Selected Articles from our
newsletter

The C.A.S.H. Courier

Yellowstone National
Park News

A recent article in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle was about
a 332 pound, five year old bear that had been captured and tagged
as he was
used to getting food from campsites, and for that he will likely be killed
or sent to a zoo. This bear was so popular that he was nicknamed “Thumper”
by people who enjoyed his antics. He never harmed anyone. The article goes
on to say that he had been “fitted with red ear tags and a GPS radio collar
wrapped in bright yellow ribbon.” The Park Service complained that “human
foods are the chief culprit in the creation of problem bears, and can lead
to their becoming increasingly aggressive.”

Bear and wolves in Yellowstone.
The bear in the photo was over a carcass trap set by the Park Service.
This is the bear mentioned in the Bozeman Daily Chronically article.

Jim Robertson wrote:

I recently returned from Yellowstone where I saw the very
bear mentioned in this article the day before they tagged his ears and
forced him to wear a radio collar (June 24th). I have photos of him
competing with wolves over an elk carcass. (Anyone wanting to use them for
articles on grizzly or wolf recovery, etc., contact me.) That night, the
Park "Service" put the carcass in a bear trap to try to catch the 5 year old
male grizzly (whose "type" I heard them say was "not in high demand").
Though people reported that he entered the trap at 7:00 in the evening, they
did not check the trap until the next day--14 HOURS LATER!!! He went all
night without water and not knowing what fate awaited him!

As the article points out, he was collared and followed
from then on. At one point, he walked past a fenced dump, but did not
attempt to go in, although they accused him of it and slated him to be shot.
I heard from others who live in the area that the stories of his food thefts
are also fabrications. The day I left, I heard they were going to kill him
for wandering near a campground located in his territory. Possibly the only
reason they did not shoot him that day was that 60 minutes was filming him
for a piece on grizzly recovery. Anyone upset at the Park Service's
heavy-handed policy should contact them.

Please do not forget to call your Reps regarding bison...

YELLOWSTONE BUFFALO VOTE IN CONGRESS
EXPECTED TODAY

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to
consider an amendment offered by Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Charles
Bass (R-NH) to prohibit the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service
from using taxpayer dollars to kill buffalo in Yellowstone National Park.
Your Representative needs to hear from you today that you want him or her to
vote for the Hinchey-Bass Buffalo Amendment to the Interior Appropriations
bill!